Hands-on: TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 smartwatch can swap smart and mechanical watch heads; touchscreen head has an Intel chip, 4GB RAM, Android Wear 2.0
The watch's lugs, strap, buckle, digital face, and physical module can be swapped out. WIRED tested the watch in Switzerland
Context & Ripple Effects
TAG Heuer's smartwatch line began with the Google-Intel-TAG Heuer partnership announced in March 2015, which produced the $1,500 Connected Watch launched that November on an Intel chip and Android Wear. That first model had a fixed problem for a luxury buyer: the electronics age out long before a Swiss watch should.
The Connected Modular 45 is the direct answer WIRED tested in Switzerland — the same Intel-and-Android-Wear lineage, but rebuilt so the lugs, strap, buckle, digital face, physical module, and even the watch head itself can be swapped, including for a mechanical head.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the Modular 45 no longer have to choose between smart and mechanical ownership — they buy one case and swap heads, which changes what a roughly luxury-priced smartwatch purchase actually commits them to.
- TAG Heuer shifts from selling a single sealed device to selling a platform whose components — module, strap, buckle, face — are individually replaceable, extending the product's revenue surface beyond the initial sale.
Second-order effects
- Rival Swiss makers experimenting with luxury smartwatches — the category aBlogtoWatch flagged back in early 2015 with activity-tracker models on an open platform — face pressure to match modularity or concede that their electronics are disposable.
- Google's Android Wear 2.0 gains its most credible luxury showcase, giving the platform a flagship argument against cheaper wearables at the top of the market where Intel silicon already sits.
Third-order effects
- If the modular pattern holds, luxury smartwatch design splits into two lifespans — a durable mechanical/fashion chassis and a replaceable electronic head — reframing electronics obsolescence as a component swap rather than a full repurchase.
- That structure would push watchmakers toward platform economics closer to phone makers' than traditional horology's, with software updates and head upgrades becoming the recurring relationship with the customer.
The trend: Luxury watchmakers are evolving from one-shot smartwatch experiments into modular platforms that decouple the durable watch object from the short lifespan of its electronics.